September 22: First Anniversary of the Vatican-China Deal

Bitter Winter ^ | Massimo Introvigne

[marshmallow]

Time for a sober assessment of the agreement. While it would be excessive to state that all Chinese Catholics oppose it, its application is problematic, dissident priests are persecuted, and underlying theological issues on religious liberty remains unsolved.

From the Secret Text to the Guidelines

The Vatican-China deal of 2018 was signed one year ago, on September 22, 2018. Its text remains secret to this date. We have been occasionally criticized for our reserved attitude about the agreement. Bitter Winter did not share the enthusiasm of some Vatican media, nor did it join the abrasive criticism of those who believe that Pope Francis has “sold out” the Chinese Catholics to the CCP.

I confess that this has something to do with my personal experience. In 2011, I served as Representative of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) for combating racism, xenophobia, and intolerance and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions. Among the lessons I learned was that the century-old Vatican diplomacy should never be underestimated – and is a peculiar diplomacy, whose horizon is not years or decades, but centuries. Although I do know that the Vatican-China deal was partially negotiated through channels independent from the Vatican diplomacy, I believe the diplomats may play a positive role in interpreting it. On the other hand, Bitter Winter has continued to publish detailed reports of the persecution of the priests and bishops in China who, after the agreement, refused to join the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), once known as the Patriotic Church. The formulae to be subscribed in order to register with the government and thus join the CPCA are, to say the least, theologically ambiguous, and many in conscience refuse to sign them.

Then, on June 28, 2019, came the Vatican Guidelines of 2019. They largely confirmed.......

[ebb tide]

Ping

[CharlesOConnell]

It’s comparable to Soviet Intelligence inducting the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church as a department of state and using the church to further intelligence operations. The West always resisted Caesaro-Papism, after Constantine’s declaration that he was “the 13th apostle”.

[Marchmain]

Fantastic article! A totalitarian state usurping religious liberty to increase its own power and that of Vatican: that is what the pope is promoting in China. Opposite of Dignitatis Humanae!